Ok, I’m probably dating myself but I grew up on the Michale Graves era Misfits. Don’t get me wrong, I like the Danzig and other eras too, but the Michale Graves era is what is nostalgic to me. I remember being in grade school and setting my VCR to record MuchMusic’s LOUD every Friday at midnight. LOUD was a television program on the music channel that featured music videos from “heavier” bands that were not played during the regular music video rotation. I remember recording the show was a “big deal” for me. I’d call and get my mom to do it if I was sleeping over at a friend’s house. I needed to have all the videos on VCR tape to watch them over and over again (FYI This is before YouTube lol) . As well, if I couldn’t watch it that night, it would be the first thing I did on Saturday morning.

One Saturday as I played the tape I saw the video for “Dig Up Her Bones” by the Misfits:

This was my first introduction to legendary Horror Punk band the Misfits. Michale Graves did lead vocals on two full-length Misfits Albums, American Psycho and Famous Monsters. He also did backup vocals on the 1999 single Monster Mash and Cuts from the Crypt.

Can a punk guitar be acoustic? Well I’m here to tell you YES it can because this signature acoustic guitar by Rancid frontman Tim Armstrong plays like an electric. The Tim Armstrong Hellcat guitar by Fender is a light guitar with low action. It does not feel like you are playing an acoustic. It is perfect for writing or jamming acoustic tunes if you are a punk musician who is used to playing an electric guitar. It features a built in tuner (Fishman® Isys III System with Active Onboard Preamp and Tuner) so you can really just pick and up an go. Great for jamming around a campfire.

Punk Guitar – Tim Armstrong Hellcat Acoustic by Fender

I was fortunate enough to win this guitar via a social media contest that that Rancid’s instagram account hosted at the end of last year.

The contest incorporated two of my favourite things, music and graphic design. The contest was a poster design contest for their show on New Years Eve in L.A. You simply designed a poster for the show and posted it to your instagram account using #thebash. Rancid then took a screen shot of your design (using a mobile device) and reposted it to their instagram account. People would vote by liking the posts on the Rancid account. The 5 top designs with the most likes (by Dec. 15th, 2015) won a signature Tim Armstrong Hellcat Acoustic guitar and guess passes to their show on NYE.

As a fan, it made me feel so “special” to have the Rancid instagram account share my poster design. I loved watching the likes go up during the contest and viewing all the other submissions. I spent hours on my phone keeping track of the #thebash hashtag and looking at all the new designs. There were SO many great designs. Honestly there were a lot better designs than mine. Especially the ones that where illustrations. I took graphic design in college and I do have an advanced diploma in it, but I am mostly just an admirer of that art form. As for work these days I mostly focus on producing websites. Online contests are mostly just a popularity contest…Speaking of which, Please vote for me to play at Amnesia Rockfest. Go to http://www.vote4spike.com. Scroll down to “Lauren Spike” and click “Vote for This Band”. You can vote once a day! Thanks!

I had the chance to discover some bands too such as Stressor and Sick Sick Sinners. They also had a shopping area to pick up some merch.

Accommodations

I stayed at the Aqua de promenade / Aqua Hotel. This was a nice and clean hotel with a pool and gym if you desired. It is accross the street from the beach.

Here was the view from my Hotel Room

I would have to say the best part of this hotel was the buffet. They have a breakfast buffet that is included with your room (Though you do have to wake up for it). Lunch and Dinner buffets can be added for 4 euros each a day. I opted to have the Dinner buffet added, so I literally ate for 4 euros a day the whole time I was there. My schedule during the festival was: wake up for breakfast around 9am, go back to sleep from 11-2pm. Go see the bands play on the beach from 2-5pm. Come back to the Hotel for dinner. Then get ready and go to the main festival shows at night.

The hotel was also a few minutes from the festival’s free shuttle service that would take you to concerts stops throughout the day.

Atmosphere

Coming from an experience of only going to music festivals in Toronto. I was shocked as to how well the organizers treated concert goers. Here (in Toronto), when we have a festival, it’s like “Welcome to our giant overpriced mud pit. Have fun getting here and leaving. We don’t care. Oh, there’s a pile of porta-potties in the corner if you have to go.”

The fact that they had a clean, comfortable, and safe shuttle bus service for the festival attendees was amazing. I found some of the best times of the Psychobilly Meeting was actually spent meeting people on/waiting for the bus.

This festival is really set up like a “Meeting” where there is a lot of chances to meet and sit and talk to people. Outside of the main concert hall there are picnic tables to sit and rest on. (that’s something I’ve never seen at a music festival here)

This is my travel buddy Jeanine and I 🙂

As well, NO porta-potties. Nice REAL toilets. Omg.

The Atmosphere of having bands on the beach during the day at Santi’s Beach Bar was great as well.

Psychobilly music on the beach. What a vacation!

This year…

This year I won’t be able to make it, but they have another great line up including psychobilly legends Batmobile, Members of Zombie Ghost Train, and Mad Sin. They even have a “Psycho Boat Party” this year!

Where do I buy my Punk Fashion? I get asked that all the time. The truth is that I do most of my shopping online. I find when online punk fashion brands send out email blasts with coupon codes, I can get some great deals. As someone who has worked in the e-commerce web industry, I have no problem supporting the online market. I live in Toronto and the price of everything here seems to skyrocket. Sometimes, I might go shopping in Kensington Market in the Summer. I have found some unique, well priced items there. But other than Kensington Market, and maybe some independent “pop-ups” (Like the Bazaar of the Bizarre) the only place I shop for clothes in person (real life lol) is at my favourite punk retail store London Rock, located at 202 Dundas St. In Downtown London, Ontario.

They also have an online store too, located at http://rocklondon.ca/. Though I would recommend paying them a visit if you are ever in the area to view all of their inventory. At London Rock you never know what you will find. Whether you are looking for punk fashion, punkabilly clothing, or psycobilly fashion, this store has some great finds for you. I have seen everything from Batmobile t-shirts to this cool Social Distortion sweatshirt.
Heck, even if you are not in area, even if you spent $50 on gas getting there, you would still save yourself money with the well-priced merchandise they have AND find very unique items.

Here is their discount $5 rack. D.Y.I ALERT: If you’re in a band. This is a great rack to get some unique items that you can put your band logo on and resell at shows!

Forget HotTopic – which is basically the “Walmart” of the punk fashion world. London Rock has been independently owned and operated since the early 90’s (yes, over 20 years!). You can get bargains and not support large corporations. 🙂
(Though, I’m not going to lie, I have totally shopped at HotTopic in the Eaton Centre before, mostly because I’m weak.)

Like Horror Punk Fashion? The best place for “original scare wear” is http://store.kreepsville666.com/. They have the some of the best items for Punk Fashion. Sometimes while I am on their website, I have a very “what came first/the chicken or egg?” type experience as many of their original designs are mimicked elsewhere. For example, a bought a Cleaver purse that I found on eBay back in 2013. I thought it was so cute and unique, but when I got it there was clearly something “off”. I later found out it was a rip off of a Kreepsville design!

Like music, it is always better to buy from the original source. When independent designers first start out, it is very similar to musicians, or any other type of art, where they are working for little/no money. I see many independent designers struggle at first. If you want great art to be created, then you need to support the artists.
After discovering the http://store.kreepsville666.com/ site I have purchased many things from hair accessories, to purses and clothing.

Their spooky accessories add a bit of flare to any outfit

My favourite product is their comfy t-shirt dresses. They are one of my favourite things to wear in the summer because they are comfortable and cool. They even have an official Elvira line. Their products are a unique take on the horror punk look. Perfect for any Punkabilly/Psychobilly lover. Here is a Pinterest board of some of my favs:

Online Horror Punk Fashion

Psychobilly is rockabilly with another set of influences like punk, ska, surf, or a different attitude. Essentially Punkabilly IS Psychobilly, but more towards the punk spectrum rather than towards the rockabilly/surf, or maybe a Psychobilly band with political lyrics. Punkabilly is a term to describe a Psychobilly band, not necessarily another genre, though some people think that Punkabilly done right, can be considered another genre of it’s own. Can it? Well take a listen to some of the bands on this page and you can decide.

I posted on social media asking for suggestions for Punkabilly bands. I made a Pinterest board with the bands that had links that were sent. (Sorry Facebook doesn’t allow Pinterest pins, so if you were linked to a Facebook band page and then that page had no order links you might not be on the board.)

Here is a YouTube Playlist of some cool Punkabilly tunes:

Looking for punk hairstyles? The liberty spiked mohawk has been around since the punk movement started in the early/mid 1970’s. My take on the punk mohawk is that I add pompadour bangs to make it a true punkabilly look.

Punk Hairstyles – Punk Mohawk

You asked how I do my Punk Hair and here it is! I could probably do a whole other video on “What people say to people with a Punk Mohawk” but maybe later. I’m not sure if it is clear in the video, but near the end when I am doing my bangs, I roll my bangs around a bobby pin and then twist and stick the bobby pin forward into the teased part of my bangs. Anyways, enjoy!

Here is the Video I Shot After Filming the Tutorial

Psychobilly show, Gutter Demons and The House of Haunt

It was a cold night for a Psychobilly show in Toronto. Saturday, February 13th, was one of the coldest days that Toronto has seen in two years. As we sat around the venue waiting for doors to open, I joked with the Gutter Demons that they had brought the cold with them from Montreal.

Here is where I should also add that I can not really do a show review on that night because as you may already know, I play upright bass in the opening band, The House of Haunt. I guess I could write one on how awesome we are :P, but that wouldn’t be cool. I also have no idea what it is like to watch our band from an audience perspective. (Also special thanks to our buddies The Filthy Radicals, for opening up the night.)

The Gutter Demons are, in my opinion, one of the best psychobilly bands going today. The lead singer Töxik has a grit in his voice like no other. Matched with the upright bass stylings of Flipper and latest addition to the band R-1 on drums, they are a match made in Punkabilly heaven. As a bass player I admire Flipper’s technique of adding runs when they are appropriate to the mix and dialing it back when it is needed. There is something to be said about a band that can play as a cohesive unit, complimenting each other to produce the best overall sound possible. This is definitely what the Gutter Demons have achieved. Watching them play live gives you the same crisp sound as listening to a CD/recording.

As well, not only are they continuing to produce some of the best tunes that the psychobilly genre has to offer, but they do not carry egos to go along with it. It is always refreshing to met nice, genuine, down to earth musicians in the scene.

Even though it was cold out, Torontonians made it out to the Bovine Sex Club in Toronto to show the Gutter Demons boys that we can support a Canadian psychobilly show. With sweat pouring, and hearts pounding, there was a mosh pit at the front of the stage from the time the Gutter Demons went on, until the time they ended. They played crowd favourites such as House By The Cemetery and Playground Horror Peepshow from their first albums, and some new tunes. Long-time and new fans alike were grateful that the Gutter Demons made the drive down from Montreal. If you are a live music or a psychobilly/punkabilly fan, The Gutter Demons should be on your must see list.

Here are some tracks off the Album their new album, Unfinished Business:

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This is a Punkabilly blog written by myself, musician Lauren Spike. Punkabilly IS Psychobilly but more towards the punk specturm rather than towards the rockabilly/surf. I agree sub-sub genres can get a bit much. This blog will mostly be based on my life experience and interests. Commenting on this blog is encouraged. Disagreements are fine, but any comments of a hateful nature may be deleted.